“Loving Is Easy” [ft. Benny Sings]

The 19-year-old London singer-songwriter Rex Orange County, aka Alex O’Connor, was behind some of the most soulful moments on Tyler, the Creator’s recent album, Flower Boy. Appearing on two tracks, his light, reedy voice added a youthful glow whenever he appeared. As a solo artist, he’s dabbled in new age sounds and modern R&B; his debut album, Apricot Princess, was full of swaying electric guitar ballads. “Loving Is Easy,” his new single with the Dutch pop artist Benny Sings, is a sweet-hearted slice of easy-listening FM.

Not unlike Hall & Oates before him, O’Connor excels at writing maddeningly catchy and super-simple melodies. In “Loving Is Easy,” he lays down instrumentation so bright and delightful, it almost comes off as juvenile—the keyboards and drums sound like they could’ve been lifted from a toy set. O’Connor also possess a conversational, bouncy voice that’s easy to hum along to; every now and then, he and Benny collide in cooing, tranquil harmonies like choir-boys singing towards the heavens. But O’Connor avoids getting too saccharine with his simple, relatable lyrics like, “You had me fucked up.” Perhaps because he’s so young and and sounds so wholesome, what might come off as corny from another artist feels just right from O’Connor.